Allergy Induced Asthma In Children

Asthma is an inflammatory condition of the bronchial airways that causes the normal function of the airways to become excessive and over-reactive. The condition produces airway obstruction, chest tightness, coughing and wheezing. This inflammation is produced by allergies, viral respiratory infections, and airborne irritants among other causes. Asthma is the third leading cause of hospitalization among children under the age of 15.

Asthma is the leading serious chronic illness of children in the United States. In 2006, an estimated 6.8 million children under age 18 (almost 1.2 million under age 5) were suffering from asthma, 4.1 million of which had an asthma attack, and many others have ‘hidden' or undiagnosed asthma. Common symptoms of Asthma include coughing, wheezing or whistling sounds audible when a child exhales, and shortness of breath or rapid breathing.

Any child who has frequent coughing or respiratory infections should be evaluated for asthma. The child who coughs after running or crying may have asthma. Recurrent night cough is common, as asthma is often worse at night. Chest tightness and shortness of breath are other symptoms of asthma that may occur alone or in combination with any of the above symptoms. Since these symptoms can occur for reasons other than asthma, other respiratory diseases must always be considered.

In a young child the discomfort of chest tightness may lead to unexplained irritability. They may complain that their chest ‘hurts' or ‘feels funny'. Infants who have trouble feeding or who grunt during suckling may have asthma. Secondhand smoke exposure in both adults and children is a risk factor for new asthma cases. Recent studies have suggested that children of smokers are twice as likely to develop asthma as the children of nonsmokers, and that even apparently healthy babies born to women who smoked during pregnancy.

This research was extended by a recent study that reported a child's risk of being diagnosed with asthma by the age of seven increased 23 percent if their mother smoked even less than 10 cigarettes a day during pregnancy. The chance of developing asthma increased to 35 percent if the mother smoked more than 10 cigarettes a day while pregnant. Data from several studies show that prenatal maternal smoking is a risk factor for asthma onset in children, especially young children.

Children with asthma have cited a number of climatic conditions as trigger factors. Many identify cold air as triggering asthma. Pulmonary function studies demonstrate that breathing cold air provokes asthma in most children with asthma. A common misbelief is that children with asthma have a major psychological problem that has caused the asthma. Emotional factors are not the cause of asthma, though emotional stress can infrequently trigger asthma.

During an episode, anxiety and panic should be controlled as much as possible. The parent should remain calm, encourage the child to relax and breathe easily and give appropriate medications. Treatment should be aimed at controlling the asthma. When asthma is controlled, emotional stress will be reduced and other emotional factors can then be dealt with more effectively.